13 Things About King Omri and His Fortressed City of Samaria

Yesterday I posted a picture of an obscure hillside. It’s amazing what was once there….

1. King Omri reigned over the Northern Kingdom also referred to as Israel. The Southern Kingdom was known as Judah.

2. Omri’s reign is designated between the years 884-841 B.C.

3. King Omri is only mentioned in 13 verses of the Bible…..1 Kings 16: 16-28.

4. The word “change” can be used to describe King Omri’s time on the throne.

5. The throne did not come to King Omri through a line of secession. He TOOK it.

6. Omri was originally an army general for King Elah and was considered to be a brilliant political and military leader. Zimri, a commander of the King’s charioteers, assassinated Elah (1 Kings 16: 9-11).

7. Omri thought this was wrong and decide to fight Zimri. Only one week into his reign Zimri found himself faced with a palace coup and Omri burned the palace down around him. Omri also spent four years fighting another rival for the throne…Tibni.

8. Following the split the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom they were often at war with each other. This made both nations very weak militarily and economically.

9. During Omri’s reign the bickering and strife stopped long enough for the Northern Kingdom to take part in events on the world’s stage.

10. King Omri moved the Northern Kingdom capital from Tizrah to Samaria (Sabaste) and built it up to rival Jerusalem where it remain Israel’s capital (Northern Kingdom) until the Assyrian captivity.

11. Omri bought the Hill of Shemer for two talents of silver and made this his capital

12. For the next 160 years, the city was the capital of the northern kingdom, apparently reaching a size of 150 acres (as large as Jerusalem in Hezekiah's time). Samaria is well situated with steep slopes on all sides. Eventually the name Samaria came to refer to the entire Northern Kingdom.

13. King Omri entered into a political alliance with Phoenicia by marrying his son Ahab to Jezebel, a princess of Tyre. Once he became king Ahab built a temple to Baal at Samaria. Many, many years later King Herod would build a palace at Samaria as well. Many of the ruins seen at the ancient capital today are from Herod’s time, but a wall there dates back to the 9th Century B.C. during the time of King Omri and King Ahab.

You can find a great article regarding Samaria here.

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Keeping the North and South Straight

King Solomon died sometime around 931 B.C. and unfortunately the nation of Israel began a great decline. The first step down was one united kingdom become two. The Northern Kingdom most often referred to as Israel or Samaria was ruled by a succession of rulers that can be described as wicked. The Southern Kingdom, also known as Judah, continued to be ruled by kings from the Davidic line, and the records indicate some were good while others were just as wicked as the kings who ruled the Northern Kingdom.

The two kingdoms rarely got along and were often at war which weakened each other economically and in human potential. Surrounding nations were quick to take advantage of each kingdom’s weakened condition. First and Second Kings chronicles the history of both kingdom’s in what can be a confusing set of accounts that alternate between events in the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. Second Chronicles details information only about the kings of the Southern Kingdom while First Chronicles centers only on the reign of King David.

So the first question regarding the divided kingdom might be how did it happen, right?

After Solomon’s death his son Rehoboam lost the Northern tribes to Jeroboam, a rebel leader. Some scholars blame the loss on Rehoboam because he followed some poor political advice. Others state God allowed Rehoboam to loose the Northern tribes because of the sins of Solomon. During Solomon’s lifetime he had approximately 700 wives and 300 concubines. This kept him a little preoccupied. The sins of Solomon also included a marriage to a pagan princess who gave birth to Rehoboam. The princess was blamed for turning Solomon’s people away from the Lord, and they began worshipping idols. First Kings 11: 4 explains God decreed Solomon’s successor would rule a smaller kingdom and the rest of the tribes would follow another king. During Rehoboam’s reign he lost most of Solomon’s treasure to Shishak, an Egyptian pharoh. Rehoboam reigned for seventeen years and much of it was marked with warfare with the Northern Kingdom.

Jeroboam, or the first king for the Northern Kingdom, had been a government official for King Solomon who was in charge of forced labor. He received word from God that he was to rule the Northern tribes, and went to Egypt to wait out King Solomon’s death. He hoped to return and rally the Northern tribes to support him in a challenge to Rehoboam’s rule. He was banking on the discontent many felt due to high taxes and forced labor that plagued the final days of King Solomon’s rule.

Jeroboam successfully took control of the Northern tribes and kept a firm hand by fortifying the cities of Shechem and Peniel on both sides of the Jordan River. Jeroboam also revised a mode of worship forbidden by the Lord. Since he didn’t want the people to venture into the Southern Kingdom in order to return to Jerusalem to worship in the temple he set up shrines in two different locations for people to worship. One location was near the border with Judah at Bethel. Another shrine was in Dan close to the border with Syria/Aram.

Golden calves were erected in both locations. Scholars explain these calves as idolatrous representations of God or as pedestals for His glory much like the ark of the covenant was a pedestal for His presence.

Jeroboam also specified alternative dates for festivals and established priests of his own choosing contradicting the Law. Amazingly the people of the North blindly followed Jeroboam in his religious altercations.

13 Things Concerning 2nd Kings

1. We need to remember that 1st Kings and 2nd Kings once existed as a single text.

2. The author is known but many believe it may have been Jeremiah around 560 B.C.

3. The text reminds us that the Northern Kingdom never had a righteous king. Idol worship contined even though prophets such as Elisha taught otherwise. As punishment God sends the people into permanent dispersion.

4. The Southern Kingdom was a bit better with rightous events during the reign of Hezekiah and Josiah, however, God also sent the Southern Kingdom into exile.

5. God’s Kingdom plan was never in jeopardy simply because the Israelites were sent into exile. The promise of a kingdom existed in the Davidic line. A temporal kingdom and temple was never the goal.

6. The book centers on the ministry of Elisha in chapters 2-8.

7. Two major sieges of Jerusalem are discussed-----the first by Sennacherib of Assyria (701 B.C.) where God intervened (chapter 19). The second seige was by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon around 586 B.C. (chapter 25) which tells the story about the destruction of the city and Solomon’s temple.

8. There are three main sections of the text…..Elisha’s ministry (chapters 1-8); the later period of the divided monarchy (chapters 9-17); and the period of Judah alone (chapters 18-25).

9. The text can be confusing because details alternative between the Northern and Southern kingdoms.

10. Chapter 17 provides a theological reason for the fall of Israel, but does not tell us any military, political, or economic reasons.

11. The book evaluates people by just one criterion: did they do “right in the Lord’s eyes” or not?

12. Nearly three centuries are covered within 2nd Kings, so it confirms the worldview category of time and place….as history moves forward God’s plan moves forward as well.

13. The story of 2nd Kings is largely one of disloyalty, and God’s “educational program” meant teaching His people that He values faithfulness to Him above all else, even if that means exiling them.

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